A first aspect of the application relates to an egg chain gripper actuating device for use with an egg transfer device.
Actuating devices for use with grippers are known in the prior art. Typically, egg transfer devices are provided with an egg conveyor comprising two or more parallel egg chains movable in a transport direction. Each egg chain supports a plurality of egg grippers which are each adapted to support an egg. The grippers can individually be actuated from a closed position, for supporting an egg, into an open position, for releasing an egg. The egg conveyor furthermore comprises an egg chain conveyor drive for driving the egg chains at a transport speed.
The eggs are dropped from the moving grippers into an egg receiving unit with a receiving area for receiving eggs released by the egg grippers. The receiving area is for example defined by a pair of counter rotating brush wheels, and is located below the egg conveyor such that the vertical distance between one egg chain and the receiving area is larger than the vertical distance between an adjacent egg chain and the receiving area.
For activating the grippers, actuators are provided. The actuators actuate passing egg grippers into an open position to release an egg. The released egg drops form the gripper into the brush wheels. Due to the speed of the egg chain at the moment of release, the egg follows a parabolic trajectory from a release spot at which it is released by the gripper and a contact spot at which it contacts the brush wheel.
The actuators are positioned such that at a given speed of the egg chain, the eggs lands in the correct area on the brush wheels. From WO 2010/028348 it is known to compensate for a change in speed of the egg chains by adjusting the position of the actuators. When the speed of the egg chains increases, the actuators are moved up stream such that the released eggs still drop on the brush wheels. However, this solution only allows for limited speed changes.